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When Alice Hirsh climbed onto the golf cart that pulled up beside her near the union at Ohio
State University she thought it was simply a free ride to class.

But as soon as it pulled into traffic, the driver turned around and asked “Have you seen
Cash Cab?”

The student beside her then said in her best game-show voice, “I’m Elizabeth, your host of
Buck$ Bus. Just think of me as your Ben Bailey,” the host and driver of the Discovery
Channel’s
Cash Cab.

She then peppered Hirsh with multiple-choice questions for a shot at winning a $10 gift card in
a game designed to teach students about budgeting and financial planning.

What is the average amount of financial aid received each year by full-time undergraduate
students? a) $11,500 b) $12,455 c) $15,000 d) $13,655

“It’s b, a little more than $12,000,” Hirsh shouted after thinking about it for a few
seconds.

“You are correct. Very good job,” said host Elizabeth Howard, a second-year law student who
works at OSU’s Student Legal Services, one of three groups that hosted the event.

With the economic downturn and rising academic and living costs, students increasingly are
relying on debt to finance their tuition and daily expenses, said Bryan Ashton, program coordinator
for OSU financial-wellness programs.

Ohio remains one of the most-expensive states for in-state residents to go to college. Ohio
students who borrowed for college and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2011 graduated with an average
of $28,683 in student-loan debt — the seventh-highest in the nation for the second year in a row,
according to a report by the Project on Student Debt.

Ohio State graduates were below the state and national debt averages, at $24,840. But that’s
still too high, Ashton said.

“Statewide, we know that nearly 70 percent of four-year students are stressed about their
finances and about30 percent struggle to make their daily expenses,” he said.

And younger Americans appear to be taking on more credit-card debt than the generations before
them and are slower in paying it off, according to a recent Ohio State study. A growing number
likely will go to their graves in debt, researchers say.

Ohio State’s Scarlet and Gray financial coaching program, which is on pace to reach 4,000
students this year compared with 1,800 students last year, is gaining national attention, Ashton
said. As part of the program, trained student coaches teach others about the basics of budgeting,
the facts about credit-card debt, the importance of understanding their credit score and how to
avoid taking on too much debt, he said.

Fun events like Buck$ Bus help Ohio State reach even more students in a fun way, said Molly
Hegarty, managing director at OSU’s Student Legal Services.

“It’s entertaining and educational,” she said.

Hirsh was stumped by a question about how much more money a college student could expect to earn
than someone with only a high-school diploma (about 70 percent more).

But she answered the next two questions correctly, making herself a winner.